White House fed talking points to Fox News

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It wasn't so long ago that former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, fresh memoir in hand, was all over the media with his allegation -- and, let's face it, a supremely credible one -- that the Bush Administration had lied about Iraq and took a "permanent campaign approach" to governing and that there was a Rove-Libby conspiracy to cover up their roles in the outing of former CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Well, the ex-mouthpiece is back, telling Chris Matthews last night -- as Think Progress reports -- that the White House fed "script[s]" to certain Fox News hosts ("the nighttime guys," as Matthews described them), essentially using them as "spokespeople." Later, he told Keith Olbermann that "'it was done frequently, especially on high-profile issues' and that Fox often gave the White House 'its desired results.'"

As Olbermann put it, it's "one of those things you assumed to be true all along, yet you are shocked when the hard confirmation actually shows up on your door."

Well, no, we shouldn't be shocked by this. But it's nice to have the confirmation straight from the mouthpiece's mouth.

(Image from here.)